New Town signing Colin Healy says his move to Portman Road came completely out of the Blue. Healy seemed destined to leave Cork City for Hartlepool until the Blues made a late swoop for the 29-year-old former Irish international.

Healy said: "The move to Ipswich came out of the blue. I was going to Hartlepool last week when the manager rang me and asked me to come down for a chat.

"I have played against Ipswich a few times and I know it's a very good club. It looks like it's a club on the up and I'm glad to be part of it.

"The manager has very high ambitions here and that's the way it should be. He's proved what a good manager he is and I'm really looking forward to my time here.

"It's another challenge for me now to step up to a higher level and I'm ready for it. There are some big teams in the Championship, with the clubs coming down from the Premier League, and there are some good players in the league. There's a strong squad here though, and I think we've got a good chance of doing well.

"With the injuries I had I did think that at one stage I might not get back at all and then having gone back to Ireland, I probably thought that I would stay back there and play in the League of Ireland.

"I was playing OK at Cork though and now I've got the chance to play at a higher level again, I'm delighted."

Healy has signed a two-year deal for a fee understood to be in the region of £70,000.

Elsewhere, former Town target Dean Whitehead has completed his move from Sunderland to Stoke for an initial fee of £3 million, which could rise to £5 million.

Ex-Town and Cork midfielder George O'Callaghan has been offered a deal by League One Yeovil after a trial having left Dundalk after a short spell in May.

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